Introducing: Mischa and the bear

Hailing from Dublin and emerging from the glow of their bedroom studio, this duo makes a bold first impression with their debut single “Deny” — a brooding, cinematic slice of synth-pop that lands with precision and pulse. Crafted by producer/bassist Mischa (Danny Rooney formely of modernlove.) and first-time vocalist Bear (Fírinne McIntyre), “Deny” is a darkly hypnotic exploration of obsession, control, and the chaos bubbling beneath the surface. Think industrial textures, distorted beats, and a haunting intensity that lingers long after the last note fades.

Ahead of the track’s release on April 25th, we caught up with the pair to dig into the sounds, stories, and strange magic behind “Deny.”

1. “Deny” is such a powerful debut—can you talk us through how the track came together and what inspired its dark, cinematic energy? 

BEAR: We were actually messing around with the bassline on another track when Mischa tried a different bass, and immediately it sounded like it was entirely its own thing and not the song we were working on at all. So we opened a new session, and I sang the first melody that came to my mind, and it just stuck - the “Oh”s, the “I”s and the “Can’t deny, deny” hook. The song kind of quickly came together after that, I think we had the bones of it in a single evening.

MISCHA: Like most of our songs, it started with the music, just lying in bed with the laptop creating sounds without any clear intention but seeing what materialises. When the bassline formed, it instantly reminded me of Kraftwerk. I leaned into that by selecting 80’s drum machine samples and simple sawtooth synth lines. The song was coming alive, within a few minutes Bear had the chorus and verse melodies. Like a lot of music, it happens almost instinctively and then we reflect upon it afterwards. 

We’re both inspired by art that feels like it transcends reality, whether it be David Lynch’s surrealist films or artists like Grimes, FKA Twigs, etc., that create a vivid and digitally informed world with their music. 

2. The track explores themes like obsession and dissociation—how did those ideas shape the songwriting and production process for you both? 

MISCHA: It didn’t really - I was more consciously leaning into that Kraftwerk sound. From the start of the project, we kind of had this idea that we wanted our music to have a dark kind of mystical element, so I think subconsciously, it filtered its way into the song. I’m not sure if I normally think in ‘themes’ when I’m writing an instrumental - sometimes I know what I want to write a song about before starting it, but this song came about when we were just fiddling around with sound, and reacting to what I liked. I guess it’s a series of reactions. BEAR: Mischa created a whole world with the instrumental, and I tried to embody it lyrically, leaning into a sort of mechanical imagery - I tried writing as if I were the human embodiment of a computer, if that makes sense, and just had fun with it! This “machine” theme - feeling more like a machine than human, is kind of a metaphor for dissociation. The verses and chorus almost feel like they’re telling different stories, or they can be interpreted that way. The verses are about feeling machine-operated, losing your humanity or sense of self to the machine, but the choruses tap into this idea of obsession, and that is the root of humanity that remains. 

3. You recorded this single in your shared bedroom studio—what was it like creating something so sonically expansive in such an intimate space? 

MISCHA: Creating in the space you live in definitely allows you to be as creative as you want. The space is confined so our MacBooks feel like portals to a little world that we share together. Our bedroom is far from being a fully functioning recording studio, but it definitely adds to the DIY feel of the whole project. We take turns sitting at our tiny desk while the other gives instructions from bed while playing video games. It’s unusual but hey, it works.

BEAR: Honestly it’s tough at times but also somehow easier than you’d imagine. It’s not just our studio - it’s our bedroom, it’s our living space, so we kind of just exist within this creative space and most if not all of our discussions always circle back to our creative pursuit, which makes everything we do in this project so collaborative and so entirely us, and there’s a lot of love and understanding that goes into it, for the music and for each other. 

4. Mischa, you come from the indie-pop world with modernlove., and Bear, this is your first step into the industry—how did your different backgrounds influence the dynamic and sound of the project? 

BEAR: I’ve always been musical, I played in a band in secondary school and I was in the alternative music society in college and all of that stuff, but I was really more an avid listener - writing my own stuff wasn’t something I actively pursued until I finished college. Everything kind of fell into place once I’d finished my Master’s degree - I wanted to do something creative with my spare time now that I no longer owed it all to academia, and Mischa was ready to start something new, so it kind of just made sense for us to work together. I work intuitively since I don’t have the experience or know-how that Mischa does, so I’ll describe things in really stupid terms sometimes but Mischa just understands and is able to make happen whatever it is I hear in my head. 

MISCHA: I suppose my background has led me to be quite comfortable in the production role. I really enjoy the process of taking an idea and making it a reality. Working with Bear who is, in a lot of ways, new to songwriting, can be interesting as her perspective is fresh and purely instinctive. She knows when something just feels ‘off’ or feels right. 

There’s so much I want to explore musically, and I feel that I have the freedom to do that now. 

5. The mood of “Deny” is hypnotic, even unsettling at times—how important is that emotional tension in the music you want to create moving forward? 

MISCHA: At the moment, the music we’re writing definitely has a tangible tension in it. I think this has been coming through naturally, as life isn’t always harmonious and perfect. There have undoubtedly been difficult moments in our lives, and it’s important to explore that as well as celebrating the beautiful moments too. 

BEAR: I like the darkness to it. I like that our music is catchy, kind of pop-y or danceable at times, but still holds a dark element to it, which presents itself in Deny in a retro kind of way, but you’ll hear in our other songs that it manifests slightly differently, but it’s still there. I suppose a lot of music is based on tension and release, and we’re both big fans of that in the music we listen to. I can’t say what’s important in our future music or not though, because I won’t know what we’re going to write until we write it. But it’s in all of what we like these days so it’ll definitely feature in our music in this phase of our lives.